TNI Deployed to Build 80,000 'Merah Putih' Cooperatives, Here's Why

Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan has detailed the government’s rationale for involving the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) in the development of the ‘Merah Putih’ Village/Sub-district Cooperative programme. He stated that the project to form 80,000 cooperatives across all villages and sub-districts is not a simple task, as it involves not only building physical facilities but also changing the economic patterns of village communities. Zulhas said President Prabowo Subianto wants economic growth to start from the villages by strengthening cooperatives as a basis for community empowerment. However, he acknowledged that achieving the target of 80,000 ‘Merah Putih’ Village Cooperatives is no easy matter. “Building 80,000 Merah Putih Village Cooperatives, how do you do that? It’s not easy, changing culture is not easy. The concept of the Village Cooperative is that the President wants the economy to grow from the village. The essence is empowerment,” Zulhas said during the National Coordination Meeting for the marine and fisheries sector at the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday. He explained that if the cooperative construction were carried out through a one-by-one tender mechanism, the process would take an extremely long time. For this reason, the government issued a Presidential Instruction assigning Agrinas Pangan to partner with the TNI in its implementation. “Building 80,000, how? If we tender them one by one, it might take 100 years to finish. Therefore, a Presidential Instruction was issued, assigning Agrinas Pangan to cooperate with the TNI,” he clarified. Zulhas also addressed the scrutiny that had arisen over the TNI’s involvement, particularly regarding administrative and governance aspects. Nonetheless, he assured that this cooperation model is actually considered more effective and efficient, including from a construction cost perspective. “The TNI works on command, sir. Sometimes they do forget about administrative governance, as the TNI operates on command. But I guarantee that what they build is cheaper than an open tender, and better quality across all of Indonesia,” he concluded.